Patriots vs. Dolphins: Strength vs. strength in the punting game

The Patriots-Dolphins game on Sunday will match the punter with the best average in the league this year against a returner with the best average in NFL history.

By PAUL KENYON

FOXBORO — The Patriots-Dolphins game on Sunday will match the punter with the best average in the league this year against a returner with the best average in NFL history.

Both Brandon Fields, Miami’s punter, and Julian Edelman, New England’s punt returner, are having terrific seasons. While both teams have been struggling in some areas, the punting game is an area of strength, especially when Fields and Edelman are on the field.

If the season ended today, Fields would have the second-best punting average in NFL history — 49.9 yards. The only one who ever has had a better average was Sammy Baugh in 1940, when he averaged 51.4 on 35 punts.

As might be expected from someone who kicks the ball so far, opponents often have had a chance to return Fields’ punts. Opponents have made only five fair catches. Of the 16 punts that have been returned, the runbacks are averaging 9.9 yards.

That is a good number, but Edelman’s numbers are better.

The former college quarterback is averaging 11.6 yards per return this season, which actually is below his career average. His career mark is 12.8 yards on 93 returns, which ties him with two players who played in the 1940s and 1950s, George McAfee of Chicago and Jack Christiansen of Detroit, for best average in league history.

Edelman, who already has set a career high in pass receptions with 46, is ready for his match with Fields.

“He’s definitely got a strong right leg, and he can boom it down there,” he said. “Hopefully, we’ll get some opportunities, and we’ve just got to be prepared to take advantage of those opportunities. They’ve got a coverage team that’s been doing pretty well, so we’ll see how that goes.”

The Edelman-Fields match led New England coach Bill Belichick to discuss how to go about finding a successful punt returner.

“Julian has done a good job for us, but I do think it’s a two-part thing,” Belichick said. “No matter who the returner is back there, you have to get them started. If they can’t get started, it doesn’t really matter who it is. You could have Gale Sayers back there, and if they can’t get going, it’s hard to make anything happen.

“The big part of it for the punt-return team is to get the play started, get the returner started,” Belichick said.

The guy catching the punt has to make key decisions before the ball reaches him.

“Which balls to catch, which one to let go, which ones to fair catch, which ones to return and especially as it gets inside your 10-, 15-yard line, down in that area, that even becomes more critical,” Belichick said. “That’s number one, a huge part of the returner’s job. Then after that, of course, it’s to be able to create some type of plays on his own. We can’t block everybody, and especially if you put two people on each of the gunners, then you have one guy returning and four guys blocking there, you’re down to six guys trying to block the other nine. You just don’t have enough numbers if you double the gunners.”

“Then it comes down to the returner making plays on his own, whether it’s with speed, quickness, vision, breaking tackles, whatever it happens to be. Julian does a good job of all those. He has good vision, he has good balance,” Belichick said. “A lot of times he gets hit, but doesn’t go down and is able to find space and create blocking angles for the punt return team. Once he has a little bit of space, he does a good job of breaking those tackles on his own or getting by one or two guys, sometimes more.

“It’s a combination of all those things. It’s a tough job. It’s a lot different than a kickoff returner who doesn’t really have the ball-handing issues. I mean, there are some ball-handling issues, but not the same as on the punt when you have guys bearing down,” he added.

Edelman related how he and special-teams coach Scott O’Brien do much preparation learning not only the punter’s tendencies on where and how he kicks the ball, but also the way the opposing team covers. Miami’s special-teams coach is Darren Rizzi, the former URI player and head coach.

Beyond preparation, the other key, as Belichick pointed out, is making decisions quickly.

“You know (the punter’s) direction and which way he likes to go with the tendencies and field position and all that kind of stuff, the trajectory of the punt. If the coverage is going to be there fast or if you are close to being pinned on/ the sideline, where you have to set it and all that kind of stuff,” he said. “I mean, it’s definitely a bang-bang play, but you can prepare yourself to the fullest of your ability to go out there and be the most prepared to naturally move to the play.”

Belichick likes Edelman’s ability to do the right thing.

“There’s definitely a lot of judgment and decision making involved there, no question. I would say the biggest thing for Julian is, one, he makes good decisions, and two, he’s aggressive,” the coach said. “He’ll take it to the edge, but for the most part he’s done a good job of not putting himself in harm’s way, but at the same time being aggressive and making the plays that he can make. He’s had a couple balls that have, like last week, bounced, and he saved us some yards on those without overexposing himself or the team to a turnover.

“There’s a fine line between saving a couple yards and taking care of the ball. When you can do both, that helps the team,” Belichick said.